Leveling instrument.



E. A. vB09919999. LEVELING INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. Z7, 1908.

912,()65l l Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

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' E. A. BOSTROM.

LVELING INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION IILED AUG.27, 1908.

Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNST A. BOSTROM, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

LE VE LIN G INSTRUMENT.

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ERNST A. Bos'rRoM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvement-s in Leveling Instruments;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in levelinginstruments, and is more particularly an improvement over that form ofinstrument disclosed in my prior' patents No. 700717, No. 786093 and No.81-1111, granted under dates of May 22, 1902, March 28, 1905, and March6, 1906, respectively, and my object is to provide means whereby thelevel is convertible into a transit arrangement, for running lines orsurveying, as the case may require.

A further object is to provide means for adjusting' the telescopelaterally and vertically when the telescope is being used for runninglines, whereby the telescope may be brought into alinement with objectsat opposite sides of the instrument.

A further object is to provide means for removably securing a compass tothe instrument.

A still further object is to provide means for holding the compassagainst casual rotation.

A still further object is to provide mechanical means for adjusting theparts supporting the compass after the same has been locked againstcasual rotation.

A still further object is to provide means for removably securing a bandto the instrument and providing locking mechanism therefor', whereby the`band may be locked in its adjusted position and a still further objectis to provide means for adjusting the crossed wires in the telescope tobring the same to a true vertical and horizontal position.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter referred to and moreparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application,Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved instrument, showing the sameprovided with a compass Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 27, 1908.

Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

Serial No. 450,589.

and the telescope in position to be adjusted vertically. Fig. 2 is acentral sectional view through the lower portion of the instrumentshowing the compass and telescope in side elevation. Fig. 3 is asectional view on an enlarged scale as seen on line 3MB, Fig. 2. Fig. Ais a top plan view of the base of the instrument, showing the compassand telescope removed. Fig. 5 is a sectional view as seen on line 5-5,Fig. a. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view as seen on line 6 6, Fig. ll,and Fig. 7 is a sectional View as seen on line 7-7, F ig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout t-he several views, 1 indicates the baseof my improved instrument, which is mounted upon the tripod head 2, saidhead having a socket 3 extending upwardly therefrom, the upper end ofwhich is curved and provided with an opening 1, through which extends abolt 5, the lower end of the bolt extending through a semi-globularkeeper 6, the surface of which is curved to lit the contour of thecurved portion of the socket 3 and as the opening 4 is greater indiameter than the diameter of the bolt 5, said bolt may be rocked toadjust the base 1.

The upper end of the bolt 5 is reduced in size and provided at a pointbelow its upper end with threads 7, which threads extend through athreaded opening in the spider S of the base 1, the extreme upper end ofthe bolt being still further reduced in size and extended beyond thespider' 8 to forni a bearing for a frame 9, said frame being' secured onthe bolt by extending a screw 10 downwardly into a seat in the upper endof the bolt.

The base 1 and frame 9 are yieldingly held in juxtaposition to thesocket 3 by introducing a spring 11 around the lower end of the bolt 5and between the head 12 thereon and the keeper 6, the tension of saidspring being suiiicient to normally hold the base and frame againstcasual upward movement, although the spring will yield sutiiciently toadmit of the adjustment of the base 1 to level the instrument thereon,which adjustment is accomplished through the use of any preferred formof adjusting screws 13, the upper ends of which are threaded into seatsin the base 1, while the lower ends thereof engage sockets on the flange14 carried by the socket 3.

The frame 9 is preferably oblong and has secured to one of its ends asplit ring 15, the split portion of the ring terminating over theopposite end of the frame from that towhich the ring is secured, saidring being adapted to receive a collar 16 when a coinpass 17 is to beused in connection with the instrument and to receive a turret 18supporting a telescope 19 when the instrument is to be used without thecompass. Vhen the compass is used inV connection with the instrument,the collar 16 is provided with an inwardly extending bead 20, which beadis adapted to extend around the periphery of the split ring 15 and inposition to be engaged by latches 21, 22 and 23 carried by the ring 15,which latches extend over and engage the upper face of the beadk 20,thus limiting the upward movement of the collar and preventing casualremoval thereof, the downward movement of the collar 16 being likewiselimited by shoulders 24 extending upwardly from thel base 1, the heightof said shoulders being such as to maintain the collar 16 in suchposition as to cause the lower faces of the latches to rest on the upperface of the bead and thus hold the collar against vertical movement. Thelatches 21 and 22 are pivotally mounted on ears 25 carried by the ring15', while the latch 23 is held in position on the frame 9 by means of abolt 26, said bolt having a wedge-shape head 27 at its upper end, whilethe lower end thereof extends through a slot 28 in the frame 9 and isadapted to be engaged by a binding nut 29. The bolt 26 is adapted to bemoved laterally through the slot 28 and carries the latch 23 therewith,so that when the bolt is moved inwardly to the inner end of the slot 28,said latch 23 will be out of engagement with the bead 2O and in order tosimultaneously operate the latches 21 and 22 to swing the saine out ofengagement with the bead, whereby the collar and parts carried therebymay be removed from the base 1, the inner ends of said latches 21 and 22are provided with arms 30 and 31, respectively, with which are adaptedto engage pitinen 32 and 33, respectively, extending inwardly from theinner end of the wedge-shape head 27, the length of said pitinen beingsuch that `the latches 21 and 22 will be swung clear of the bead 20 whenthe latch 23 has been moved inwardly a suflicient distance to releasethe overhanging ends thereof from the bead 20.

The collar 16 normally revolves around the split ring 15, so that thetelescope may be turned to any point of the compass and an observationmade and when the collar is left free to revolve around the split ring,the telescope may be readily adjusted by hand. When however, it isdesired to make a minute adjustment of the telescope, the loose ends ofthe split ring may be separated tov expand the ring and engage the outersurface thereof with the inner edge of the bead 20, in which event thetelescope is adjusted through the medium of a rack and pinion 34 andl35, respectively, the rack 34 being fixed to the frame 9 and the pinion35 to a stem 36, the lower' end of which extends through the base 1 andin position to be readily grasped and rotated manually so that by firstmoving th'e telescope to substantially the position required and thenspreading the ring 15 to lock the col-lar thereto, the telescopev may befurther minutely adjusted by operating the stein 36 and rotating theframe 9 and parts secured thereto through the medium of the rack andpinion 34 and 35. n

The ends of the split ring` 15 are provided with tapered faces 37, whichare adapted to engage with the tapered faces of the wedge shaped head27, whereby when it is desired to expand the ring 15', the nut 29 isturned onto the bolt 26, which will result in lower'- ing the bolt andhead thereon in view of the fact that one end of the nut engages oneface of the frame 29, such lowering of the head forcing the ends of thesplit ring outwardly and thereby expanding and moving the periphery ofthe ring into engagement with the inner face of the bead 20.v

lhen observations are to be made through the telescope as a level only,the collar 16 and parts carried thereby are released from the split ring15 by moving the bolt 26 inwardly to the inner end of the slot 28, thisoperation moving the latch 23 out of engagement with the bead 20, whilethe latches 21 and 22 are simultaneously moved out of engagement withthe bead 20 through the medium of the pitinen 32 and 33, the turret 18being then rested on the shoulders 24, and the flange or bead 38 withinsaid turret engaged by the latches 21, 22 and 23, said turret operatingwith the split ring 15 in the saine manner as the collar 16.

lhen the telescope is to be used for running liiies as well as forobservation purposes, and in conjunction with the compass 17, the collar16 has secured thereto posts 39 to the upper ends of which areadjustably secured cross bars 40 and resting upon these bars are thebase portions 41 of the standards 42, said standards being spaced aparta sufficient distance to snugly receive the turret 18 when said turretis entered edgewise between the standards, the lower ends or baseportions of the standards being secured together by means of rods 43 andthe standards are held separated a pre-determined distance byintroducing thimbles 44 around the rods 43 between the standards and byplacing the rods in such radius as to conform to the radius of theturret 18, said rods will form a support for the turret when introducedbetween the standards, but as one of the rods is located at the verticalcenter of the standards and the other rods at predetermined distances ateach side of the vertical center of the standards, the turret may bereadily rotated to raise and lower the object end of the telescope. Theturret 1S is held against casual removal from between the standards 42by introducing a rod 45 through the upper ends of the standards andimmediatelj7 above the turret 18, one end of t-he rod 45 being threadedto enter a threaded opening in one of the standards, while the oppositeend thereof is provided with a milled head 46, whereby said rod may bereadily engaged or disengaged from the standards and after the telescopehas been adjusted to the proper height, the rod 45 may be employed forlocking the telescope in its adjusted position, the drawing in the upperends of the standards clamping said standards firmly against. the endsof the turret and holding the same against rotation between thestandards. Two of the posts 39 are extended a distance above the crossbars 40 and have secured thereto the usual or any preferred form ofspirit level 47, wherebyT the telescope may be readily leveled whendesired and in order to minutely adjust the parts carrying thetelescope, the standards 39 are provided with adjusting nuts 48 and 49above and below the cross bars 40, respectively, and it will be readilyapparent that by properly adjusting said nuts, the parts of theinstrument carrying the telescope may be kept vertical at all times. Bymounting' the telescope in this manner, a line may be run from bothsides of the instrument and at any degree of angle, which result isaccomplished by rst establishing the line at one side of the instrumentand then removing the turret from between the standards and reversingthe ends of the telescope and to minutely adjust the telescope laterallyto bring the objects or lines at opposite ends of the telescope inalinement with each other, or the center of rotation of the instrument.The standards 42 are adjustably mounted on the cross bars 40 through themedium of screws 50, which screws extend through the base port-ions 41and enter threaded seats in blocks 51 formed integral with the crossbars 41, said blocks extending upwardly between the base portions of thestandards 42 and are of less length than the distance between saidstandards, whereby said standards and parts carried thereby may be movedlaterally to adjust the telescope, or as commonly called, the line ofcollimation. After the standards have been properly adjusted through themedium of the screws 50, they are locked in their adjusted positions byintroducing binding screws 52 through slots 53 in the cross bars 40, theupper ends of the binding screws being seated in threaded openings inthe base portions 41, while the lower ends thereof are provided withheads which bind against the lower faces of the cross bars and serve tolock the standards in their adjusted positions.

The base 1 is provided with an annular shoulder 54, upon which isadapted to rest a band 55, extending inwardly from the upper edge ofwhich is a plate 56, on which is delineated graduations, saidgraduations being divided into degrees and arranged to coperate with anindicator 57 on the peripheral face of the collar 16 and in order toobtain a minute adjustment between the indicator' and the degreegraduations, said indicator' may be divided into suitable divisions forreadin` minutes and seconds. The band is rotatably mounted on theshoulder 54, so that when the telescope is to be swung a certain numberot' degrees to the right or left of its initial position, the band 55 islirst rotated until the degree to which the telescope is to be swung, isin registration with the Zero mark on the indicator, when the telescopeis to be swung around until the Zero mark on the indicator registerswith the Zero on the plate 56 and in order to hold the band againstcasually leaving the shoulder, the inner face of the band is providedwith a circumferential channel 58, in which are adapted to take tongues59 of retaining washers 60, said washers being preferably three innumber and seated in recesses 61 in the shoulders 24 of the base 1, saidwashers being retained in position by threading the openings in thewashers and introducing therein the threaded ends of bolts 62, saidbolts being introduced upwardly through the base 1. The band 55 may belocked in its adjusted position by continuing the recess around one ofthe washers to a point adjacent the lower face of the base l so thatsaid washer' may be moved upwardly and downwardly, the bolt G2 in thisinstance being provided with a thumb piece 63 so that it may be readilyturned to clamp the tongue 59 against the band 55 and thereby hold theband against rotation on the shoulder 54. The washer GO, employed forclamping the band in its adjusted position, is normally supported in anelevated position by means of a spring 64 which surrounds the bolt G8and between the washer 60 and bottom of the recess 61, so that when thewasher is not employed for holding the band, the tongue on said washerwill be prevented from binding on the face of the channel 58.

In adjusting' the telescope to level the same, it frequently happensthat the wires 65 in the telescope are moved out of their vertical andhorizontal positions, so that an accurate observation cannot be made andin order to rectify the wires 65 and to bring them to an exact verticaland horizontal positi-on without moving the entire telescope, the wiresare secured to a frame 66, which snugly lits within the eye piece 67 ofthe telescope, the wall of the eye piece having a slot 68 therein,through which extends a screw 69, the inner end of the screw engagingthe frame 66, while the outer end thereof is provided with the usualform of Hared head 70, which head engages a similarly formed seat in anadjusting ring 71. In rectifying the positions of the crossed wires, thescrew 63 is loosened sufficiently to permit the ring 71 to rotate aroundthe wall of the eye piece and after the wires have been adjusted theclamping screw 69 is again tightened, which will bind the ring 71 andframe 66 on opposite sides of the wall of the eye piece and hold thewires 65 in their adjusted positions until such time as it is againdesired to change the position of the wires.

In operation, should it be desired to make observations through thetelescope, the turret is engaged with the split ring 15 by first movingthe bolt 26 inwardly and thus disposing the ends of the latches out ofthe path of the flange 38 on the interior of the turret when the turretis lowered in position around the split ring 15 and the bolt 26 againmoved outwardly, which will dispose the projecting portions of thelatches over the flange 3S and secure the turret in position on thebase. Should it be desired however, to run lines as well as makeobservations, the turret is released from the base and the collar 16mounted in position thereon, when the turret is to be turned edgewiseand introduced between the standards 42 and if desired, a compass 17 maybe mounted in the collar 16 and used in connection with the telescope.After the telescope has been secured between the standards 42, theinstrument is leveled by operating the nuts 4S and 49 on the post 39,after which the observations are made through the telescope and if thelines at oppositey ends of the telescope do not exactly coincide witheach other, the telescope may be shifted laterally in either directionthrough the medium of the screws 50, until the proper alinement has beenreached when the parts may be secured in their adjusted positions bymeans of the screws 52. If, after the line is established at aparticular point and it is desired to establish a line at a differentangle, 'the collar 16 is locked in its adjusted position by expandingthe ring 15 and the band 55, having the graduations thereon, rotatedaround the collar until the degree indicating the angle at which the newobservation or line is to be run, is brought into registration with theindicator on the collar, when the band is locked in its adjustedposition by operating the thumb nut 63 and clamping the washer at theupper end of the bolt to which the thumb nut is secured against the band55, when the collar 16 is released from the split ring 15 and the collarand telescope carried thereby, rotated until the indicator is inregistration with zero of the graduations on the band when theobservation may be made and should a minute adjustment of the telescopebe required, the ring kmay be again expanded and the collar 16 lockedthereon and the adjustment made through the medium of the rack andpinion 34 and 35.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very cheap and economicalform of surveying instrument and one that may be readily and quicklyapplied to use for making observations or running lines and it willlikewise be seen that a line may be run from opposite sides of theinstrument without changing the position of the supporting parts of theinstrument. It will likewise be seen that the various movable parts ofthe device may be locked against casual movement, whereby the severalparts may be held in their adjusted positions and likewise that by4mounting the various parts as shown, minute adjustment of said partsmay be readily accomplished.

that I claim is:

1. In a surveying instrument, the combination with a base havingshoulders thereon; of a split ring means to expand said split ring,whereby an object surrounding the ring and resting on said shoulderswill be gripped and additional means cooperating with the ring to holdthe object in position on the shoulders.

2. In a surveying instrument, a base, means to adjustably support saidbase, a band carried by said base, means to lock the band in itsadjusted position, a collar carried by the frame, means to hold thecollar on the frame and additional means to lock the collar againstcasual rotation.

3. In a surveying instrument, the combination with a base havingshoulders thereon; of a circular' object supported by said shoulders andhaving an inwardly extended bead, a split ring carried above said frame,means carried by the ring adapted to engage the bead and hold the objecton the base, means to expand the ring and lock the object thereon andadditional means to manually adjust the ring and parts cooperatingtherewith.

4. In a surveying instrument, the combination with 'a base and means toadjustably support the same; of a collar rotatably mounted on said base,posts carried by the collar, standards extending upwardly from theposts, a telescope adapted to extend between the standards, means toadjustably support the telescope, additional means to lock the telescopein its adjusted position and means to move said standards and telescopelaterally.

5. In a surveying instrument, the combination with a plurality of postsand cross bars adjustably secured to the upper ends of said posts; oi apair of alining standards, means to space said standards apre-determined distance apart, a telescope extending between thestandards, a turret carrying said telescope and adapted to rest on thespacing means and means to retain the telescope between the standardsand lock the same against movement when desired.

6. In a surveying instrument, the combination with a base and a collarrotatably mounted thereon, said collar having an inwardly extendingbead; of a frame mounted above the base, a split ring carried by saidframe, the ends of the split portions having tapered faces, a boltextending through the frame, a wedge-shaped head at the upper end of thebolt adapted to coperate with the tapered faces of the ring` and spreadthe ring whereby the bead will be engaged and the collar held againstcasual rotation.

7. In a surveying instrument7 the combination with a base and a collarrotatably mounted thereon; of a frame, a split ring lixed to said frame,means carried by the ring to hold the collar in engagement with thebase, means to expand the ring and secure the collar thereto, a racksecured to said frame and a pinion carried by the base adapted tocooperate with the rack and rotate the collar when the pinion isrotated.

8. In a -surveying instrument the combination with a plurality of posts,cross bars Y carried by said posts and means to raise and lower saidcross bars; of a pair of standards, the base portions whereof areadapted to rest on said cross bars, screws extending through the baseportions and into parts of the cross bars, whereby the standards may beshifted laterally and means to lock the standards in their adjustedpositions.

9. In a surveying instru1nent,the combination with a base and a circularbody adapted to rest on said base, said circular body having an inwardlyextending portion thereon; of a frame, one end of which is provided witha slot, a split ring xed to the opposite end of the frame, latchescarried by said ring adapted to engage the projection on the circularbody and hold the same in position on the base, a movable bolt extendingthrough the slot in the end of the frame and between the ends of thesplit ring, a head at the upper end of to spread the ring and engage thesame with the inwardly projecting portion of the meinber supported bythe base and means coperating with said latches and head to niove thelatches out of the path of the inwardly projecting portion when the boltis moved to the inner end of the slot in the tra me.

l0. In a surveying instrument, the combination with a base, a telescopeadapted to be mounted on the base and means to adjust the telescope tolevel the saine; of crossed wires in the telescope, a frame supportingsaid wires and means to shift the wires and frame and hold the saine intheir adjusted positions, comprising an adjusting ring and a screwextending through said adjusting ring into the frame, the wall of thetelescope having a slot therein to permit lateral Inovement of thescrew.

In testimony whereof I have name to this specification in the twosubscribing witnesses.

ERNST A. BOSTROM.

signed my presence of Vitnesses:

M. F. BARNES, H. J. SIMONTON.

said bolt adapted,

